Pentagon to Give Gay, Lesbian, and Bi Troops Workplace Protections
The Pentagon is preparing a change in its nondiscrimination policy that, for the first time, would give gay, lesbian, and bisexual troops the kind of protection that can't be offered by body armor.
According to the Washington Blade, an update to the Military Equal Opportunity Policy, or MEO — which has never before included sexual orientation as a protected class — could be made final as soon as the end of this month.
A senior Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the LGBT newspaper that the Department will submit a revision that would add the words "sexual orientation" to the military's nondiscrimination policy, ensuring that members of the military cannot be discriminated against for their sexual orientation. The anonymous official told the Blade the change will be submitted to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter this week for his review and final approval.
According to the Blade, the change follows an internal review of the MEO, which the official said took approximately a year. As it stands, the MEO policy includes race, color, religion, age, physical or mental disability, sex and national origin as protected classes. However, service members currently have no recourse for antigay discrimination, outside of filing a complaint with their chain of command.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/military/2015/06/01/pentagon-give-gay-lesbian-and-bi-troops-workplace-protections
= new reply since forum marked as read
